BEIRUT — The Syrian government said on Thursday that a U.S. military presence in Syria represented an “ag🅺gression” against Syrian sovereignty, and vowed to free the country fr𓆏om any “illegitimate” foreign presence.
The Syrian Foreign Ministry sta♌tement was a response to a speech by U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson on Wednesday in which he signaled that U.S. forces would stay in parts of Syria indefinitely𒆙.
“The American military presence on Syrian land is🃏 illegitimate and repre🍒sents a blatant breach of international law and an aggression against national sovereignty,” the statement said.
Syria w🧸ould continue its “relentless war against terrorist movements with their different names until eveﷺry inch of Syrian soil is cleansed” and would work with “the same determination” to free Syria of any “illegitimate foreign presence.”
Tillerson signaled an open-ended military presence as part of a broader strategy to prevent Islamic State’s resu𒊎rgence, pave the way diplomatically for the eventual departure of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and curtail Iran’s influence.
The United States has around 2,000 military personnel in Syria, deployed as part o🐼f the U.S.-led coalition’s campaign against Islamic State. The Syrian Foreign Ministry statement said the government was not in need of U.S. dollars “stained with the blood of Syrians.”